Nice, your method for making them is simpler. I'll have to try that if I need another batch. Let me know if you manage to break one
(I think if one does break, it will be where it is bolted to your frame)

They are extremely springy. I dont think its possible to break one, have you broken any of yours? It would have to take a very brutal crash i would think.

Nice, your method for making them is simpler. I'll have to try that if I need another batch. Let me know if you manage to break one
(I think if one does break, it will be where it is bolted to your frame)

Well. I managed to break one on the right arm after an "emergency landing"

So i replaced the gear on the left & right arms with my trusty rock-crawler tires and left the tail alone. Then today I broke the PVC leg on the tail, and now i have all 3 rock crawler tires zip tied to the copter.

Nope. Never broke one. Mine are held on with zipties, so anything extreme breaks them off

I tried the same landing gear and despite the fact, it's geniusly simple and excellent for landing, I noticed some oscillation during flight - especially in windy conditions.
Meanwhile, I switched to an even simplier solution from the Tricopter V2.6HV build using 3 plexiglas pieces.

This way, the Tri not only seems to hover while stationary, its landing gear is nearly invisible during flight and the whole Tri looks pretty clean now. It weights only the half (45g savings), but the best thing is, that the oscillation is almost gone and for landing, there is more stability.

I tried the same landing gear and despite the fact, it's geniusly simple and excellent for landing, I noticed some oscillation during flight - especially in windy conditions.
Meanwhile, I switched to an even simplier solution from the Tricopter V2.6HV build using 3 plexiglas pieces.

This way, the Tri not only seems to hover while stationary, its landing gear is nearly invisible during flight and the whole Tri looks pretty clean now. It weights only the half (45g savings), but the best thing is, that the oscillation is almost gone and for landing, there is more stability.

Unfortunately, I don't have a better picture at the moment..

ah someone who has built this version. does it work well? the CF isnt cross weaved and so it could easily break in a landing since it has bolts through it. The ESC wires are extended from the battery which is bad (should extend the ESC -> motor wires).

Here's mine

I started out making some like rcbif but using my heat gun to soften things, which worked great, and then realized that existing zip ties would be a bit in the way for mounting.

So first I straightened out a whole strip of 4" pipe by 1/2" then bent it into these. Pondered what to use for skids, decided to try wood instead of more pipe as it's significantly lighter. The 13" long strip of PVC weighed 22 grams each. The same length of wood was 8.

I just bent everything free-hand over the edge of my workbench. If it works and I need more then a jig would make them a little more uniform.

I'm just getting this tricopter going. Did a short maiden flight last night in the dark, without the skids. Hope to steal time to test it out with more room later.

I made the skids pretty high because I'm flying at our farm and the grass is longer, so I'm hoping this will get the props high enough.

BTW, anyone know how PVC compares in strength/weight/durability to acylic (plexiglas) or polycarbonate (lexan). Realized that I have some of both that comes "pre-straightened" )

I'll report how they work out. Thanks again for the inspiration.

cheers,
Andrew

Images

That looks great, and its a great idea! PVC is pretty hard, and it only flexes so much before it breaks. Plus when you bent it, you created weak spots. You might want to try connecting something to each wooden skid so they cannot spread apart from eachother. This will keep the PVC from tweaking and snapping.

I was suprised how quickly I broke my PVC landing gear, but my Frame is alittle heavy and I did come down on it pretty hard sideways a couple times.

I went back to the trusty rock crawler tires:

I am not sure how much they weigh, but they are indestructible, and do a great job of protecting my motors too.

Not for a n00b. If you land hard with the force on the edge the zip ties will snap. Land hard with force on the face and the foot will snap. Don't want to spend all day on the band saw and drill press making new ones. I think I might try plywood next.

Also what would the strength be of this design with 1mm carbon fibre? Is aluminium and wire a no no because of radio interference?

If your multirotor has square arms, this will work well. One picture shows the gear on an arm of my wooden hex, and the other shows the simple jig I made to bend them (there are 3 on the hex). The shape is nothing special- I just eyeballed it.